(AMT: McLean, VA) -- As the summer of 2023 ended, the number of economists predicting a recession dwindled nearly as fast as the amount of sunlight each day. Despite the generally more optimistic outlook, orders for manufacturing technology, measured by the U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report published by AMT—the Association For Manufacturing Technology—continued to fall relative to 2022. Through October 2023, orders totaled $4.05 billion, 13.5% behind the total for the first 10 months of 2022.

Although total orders were behind, October was slightly above the average monthly value in 2023. October orders totaled $409.7 million, 4% above September order values. This growth was driven by orders placed in the West, which grew nearly 60% over September. The South Central and Southeast regions also saw growth but at a much more modest pace. The Northeast and North Central-East regions declined by modest single digits, while the North Central-West region declined nearly 30% from the value of September 2023 orders.

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